This blog replaces the earlier archives I had posted on the Internet and includes various memos sent to the clients of the VitaminLawyer.com (now the Vitamin Consultancy). It includes archived copies of memos from 2004 through 2007 and subsequent memos will be posted as they are issued.

Report from Gardner Harris - "May 30 - When Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach took over the Food and Drug Administration in 2005, the agency had a crisis over drug approvals that had missed or ignored dangerous side effects in Vioxx, antidepressants and other prominent medications. Dr. von Eschenbach promised improvements, and agency officials said they would no longer be caught flatfooted on drug safety. But this month, The New England Journal of Medicine published a study suggesting that a major diabetes pill, Avandia, might increase the risk of heart attacks.

Concerns over that drug and others have led Republicans and Democrats in the House and the Senate to call for investigations. A House hearing is planned for June 6. Dr. von Eschenbach said in a briefing on Wednesday that his agency needed to collaborate more closely with drug companies.

’The point is that we need to look at the role of the F.D.A. in being a bridge to the future, not a barrier to the future,’ he said at his office here."

My question: is working closely with Drug Companies the solution... or the problem?

I suggest that a better solution would be promoting natural remedies without dangerous side effects; not putting up bureaucratic barriers to them. This can best be done by allowing people access to truthful information about traditional, non-drug approaches; by letting natural product purveyors make
serious health claims... exactly what Ron Paul's Health Freedom Protection Act would do.

In the twelve hours since www.globalhealthfreedom.org sent an email blast seeking support for the Paul bill over 10,000 people have written their congresspeople supporting the bill! We still need hundreds of thousands to move Congress.

About Me

The Vitamin Conslutancy - www.vitaminconsultancy.com -- I practiced law for 36 years in NJ (1971 - 2006), gaining a reputation as The Vitamin Lawyer, representing people in the Natural Products, Dietary Supplements and CAM (Complementary and Alternative Modalities) fields. Now I provide educational services and I consult with lawyers and other professionals, formulators, manufacturers and purveyors of natural and nutritional products, as well as with CAM enterprises and practitioners.
I started these blogs to comment on health and freedom issues and to provide an archive of information for my clients and associates. This is a private expressive association communication.
I have been a trustee of several NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) including the Natural Solutions Foundation - globalhealthfreedom.org - Institute for Health Research - inhere.org - Sound Health Research Institute - soundhealthresearch.org and LifeSpirit Church - lifespirit.org